1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a developer container, a developer replenishing device, a developing device, and an image forming apparatus, such as, a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, a plotter, or a multifunction peripheral (MFP) including at least two of coping, printing, facsimile transmission, plotting, and scanning capabilities, and further relates to prevention of erroneous installation of a developer container.
2. Description of the Background Art
Image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and facsimile machines, form latent images on an image bearer, develop the latent images by a developing device, and then transfer the developed image onto sheets of recording media. To maintain a desired image density, developer is supplied to the developing device by developer replenishing devices such as toner replenishing devices. For example, when the concentration of toner in developer supplied to the photoreceptor decreases, a toner replenishing device supplies toner contained in a toner container, which is generally called a toner bottle or toner cartridge, to the developing device. In the description below, toner replenishing devices may represent developer replenishing devices and toner containers may represent developer containers as a matter of convenience.
Typically, developer containers are removably mountable in a mount provided in developer replenishing devices and replaced when no toner remains therein or color is to be changed.
There are developer containers that include a container body, a cap provided to an opening at one end of the container body, and a spiral groove formed in the outer circumference of the container body. Such a configuration is proposed, for example, in JP-2007-065613-A. In this configuration, as the container body and the spiral groove thereof rotate, developer or toner contained in the container body moves toward a supply opening (i.e., toner outlet) formed in the cap.
The developer container is inserted into the developer replenishing device from an insertion opening formed therein and positioned in the developer replenishing device such that the supply opening faces a receiving part of the developer replenishing device so that developer can be supplied from the container body thereto.
To increase the capacity, cylindrical container bodies that are long in the axial direction thereof may be used in developer containers. In such a configuration, the developer container filled with developer tends to be heavy, and it is not easy for users or operators to insert the heavy developer container into the insertion opening while holding the developer container, in particular, keeping an orientation proper for installation.
The term “orientation proper for installation” used here means that the developer container is oriented in the axial direction of the developer container being inserted properly and that the supply opening formed in the cap can face and closely contact a receiving inlet of the developer replenishing device.
When the developer container inserted is oblique to the axial direction of the developer container being inserted properly, clearance can be present between the supply opening formed in the cap and the receiving part of the developer replenishing device, allowing developer to leak through the clearance.
Relating to this inconvenience, the above-described JP-2007-065613-A proposes forming a guiding portion to guide the toner container to slide in a toner-container holder formed in a toner replenishing device. The guiding portion can be a guide face (or sliding face) on which the bottom face of the toner container slides. Alternatively, the toner-container holder includes guiding portions into which sliding pieces provided on both sides of the toner container in a horizontal direction are fitted such that the guiding portions guide the toner container.
In this configuration, the toner container being inserted can be prevented from inclining relative to the axial direction as the bottom face of the toner container slides on the guide face of the toner-container holder, or the sliding pieces slide in the guiding portions of the toner-container holder.